Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson is gearing up to face his former club Reading in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night, with changes in the offing.
Wrexham came from behind to beat Norwich City 3-2 on Saturday afternoon, with Josh Windass grabbing the headlines as he scored a second-half brace.
Phil Parkinson will have been delighted with another big away performance, but his attention immediately turns to the Carabao Cup.
Wrexham battle Reading in the third round of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night, as Parkinson takes on the club where he became a hero in his playing days.
Phil Parkinson confirms plans for Wrexham’s Nathan Broadhead
This is the ideal opportunity for Parkinson to rotate his squad and hand chances to fringe first-team players.
One man who needs the minutes is Nathan Broadhead.
Wrexham snapped up Broadhead in a club-record move from Ipswich Town, paying around £7.5million for his signature.
£10million is the fee most commonly associated with Broadhead’s move to Wrexham, but the extra £2.5million is reliant on add-ons.
Broadhead has yet to really begin paying back that fee, but it is early days and a niggling calf injury has stifled his impact.
The Welsh international was on the bench against Norwich on Saturday, and Parkinson has now confirmed that he will start against Reading.
Speaking on Wrexham’s official YouTube channel, Parkinson praised Broadhead for his efforts in training last week.
Broadhead wasn’t brought on against Norwich due to the state of the game, but Parkinson feels that he is ready to face Reading.
“Nathan Broadhead, you know, comes back, good week’s training last week. Nathan, he needed that,” said Parkinson.
“He didn’t get on on Saturday because of the way the game was going, but he’ll start tomorrow night because, you know, he’s ready after his setback he had against Sheffield Wednesday,” he added.
Phil Parkinson’s tactical switch could suit Nathan Broadhead
Parkinson has played a 3-5-2 system for the majority of his time in charge of Wrexham, but he switched things up against Norwich on Saturday.
Parkinson tweaked his setup to go with a 3-4-2-1 setup at Carrow Road, with Josh Windass and Lewis O’Brien supporting Kieffer Moore.
The change worked as Wrexham secured a 3-2 win, and Broadhead could benefit if Parkinson utilises that system moving forward.
Broadhead is primarily a left-sided winger, but he has also operated as an attacking midfielder during his career.
The idea of Broadhead and Windass working off Moore is an exciting one, and Parkinson will surely consider deploying that attacking trio together down the line.